Archive for the ‘Rainer Maria’ Category

It is a well established fact that later Rainer Maria is lesser Rainer Maria. I’ve done my fair share to further that fact. I think it had something to do with them moving from Wisconsin to New York. But take this record out of its sleeve, drop the needle on it and hope not for once was as it explodes into this song – it is not all that bad. It is actually kind of great. Not as great as those first two and a half albums – little is – but, setting aside brittle diffidence for a more assured, more orthodox rock path to the delicate and heartfelt, there is still something to be found, savoured and moved by in this.

This might just be the first Rainer Maria song that’s happened here. While it’s not as good or important to me and my late night, abandoned, desperate self as their earlier stuff, it’s not that terrible of a song. What makes a band change so? Maturity, mastery, success, learning how to sing, moving to another city, fame, money, competition, change in the climate of what’s considered cringeworthy and how far one should distance themselves from it, playing to crowds demanding of a certain thing, disillusionment, illusionment of a new kind, the turn of a century, not wanting to keep doing the same old thing, not being able to keep doing the same old thing. For Rainer Maria think it’s a little from every one of those columns. Then again, maybe it’s me. At least there are those first two and a half albums. I’ll gush when a song from those comes around.